By Asheesh Moosapeta

The Canadian government has made changes to which educational programs can lead to a work permit upon graduation, according to CIC News.

On 25 June, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) made substantial changes to the eligible fields of study for Post-Graduation Work Permits (PGWP), in order to reflect updated labour market demands in 2025.

Students in 119 new fields of study are now eligible for a PGWP, while 178 fields of study have been removed from eligibility.

This change applies to international students who:

• Are enrolled in non-degree programs (programs that do not lead to a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree); and
• Applied for their study permit on or after 1 November 2024.

Students who submitted their study permit application before June 25, 2025, are grandfathered: they will remain eligible for a PGWP as long as their field of study was on the approved PGWP-eligible list at the time of application, even if it has been removed since. The 119 newly added educational programs are in fields of study such as:

• Healthcare and social services;
• Education; and
• Trades.

Programs in the Education field of study are a completely new addition to the PGWP-eligible fields of study.

The tables below provide examples of educational programs (and their associated Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code) that have been added and removed from PGWP eligibility for each field of study.

Update on story

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